Howe became Chancellor of the Exchequer upon Thatcher's victory in the 1979 general election, with his tenure characterised by a programme of radical policies intended to restore the public finances, reduce inflation and liberalise the economy.

The speech was widely seen as the key catalyst for the leadership challenge mounted by Michael Heseltine a few days later, which led to Thatcher's resignation and her replacement by Major.

Then he did national service as a lieutenant with the Royal Corps of Signals in East Africa, by his own account giving political lectures in Swahili about how Africans should avoid communism and remain loyal to "Bwana Kingy George"; and also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.

He helped to found the Bow Group, an internal Conservative think tank of "young modernisers" in the 1950s; he was one of its first chairmen in 1955–1956 and edited its magazine Crossbow from 1960 to 1962.

Harold Macmillan believed that trade union votes had contributed towards the 1951 and 1955 election victories and thought that it "would be inexpedient to adopt any policy involving legislation which would alienate this support".

[9] Through a series of Bow Group publications, Howe advanced free market ideas, primarily inspired by the thinking of Enoch Powell, which was later to be known as Thatcherism.

He became a chairman of the backbench committee on social services, being quickly recognised for promotion to the front bench as HM Opposition spokesman on welfare and labour policy.

He was promoted in 1972 to Minister of State at the Department of Trade and Industry, with a seat in the Cabinet and Privy Council membership, a post he held until Labour was returned to government in March 1974.

[14] His tenure was characterised by an ambitious programme of radical policies intended to restore the public finances, reduce inflation and liberalise the economy.

The shift from direct to indirect taxation, the development of a medium-term financial strategy, the abolition of exchange controls and the creation of tax-free enterprise zones were among the most important decisions of his chancellorship.

The first of five budgets, in 1979, promised to honour Professor Hugh Clegg's report that recommended a return to pre-1975 pay levels in real terms, conceding Howe's point about "concerted action".

[8] Thatcher's point was that the vast increase in (indirect) taxation and government spending (notably in public sector pay) in 1979 would lead to terrible consequences – which it did, as unemployment doubled.

[16] The logic in his proposals was that by reducing the deficit, which at the time was £9.3 billion (3.6% GDP), and controlling inflation, long-term interest rates would be able to decline, thus re-stimulating the economy.

[21] After the 1983 general election, Thatcher reluctantly appointed Howe Foreign Secretary, a post he held for six years, the longest tenure since Sir Edward Grey in 1905–1916.

[22] With "the quiet determination" applied in the Treasury, he set off on a tour of Warsaw Pact countries, interviewing communist leaders and sounding out opponents.

"[24] He later looked back on this period (1983–1985) as his happiest and most fruitful and productive, engaging with world leaders across the summit table, sharing decisions with Thatcher, including a notable encounter with Caspar Weinberger on 6 September 1982.

[26] However, Howe's tenure was made difficult by growing behind-the-scenes tensions with the Prime Minister on a number of issues, first on South Africa, next on Britain's relations with the European Community, and then in 1985 the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

However, the human rights questions over South African sanctions and trade embargo, coupled with his deep concern over Thatcher's strident style in Europe, increasingly drove a stressful wedge between Nos.

[27][page needed] In June 1989, Howe and his successor as chancellor, Nigel Lawson, both secretly threatened to resign over Thatcher's opposition to proposed British membership of the exchange rate mechanism of the European Monetary System.

The sceptical attitude towards Howe in Number 10 weakened him politically – even if it might have been driven to some degree by fear of him as a possible successor, a problem compounded by the resignation from the Treasury of his principal ally Nigel Lawson later in the same year.

During his time as deputy prime minister, Howe made a series of coded calls on Thatcher to realign her administration, which was suffering rising unpopularity following its introduction of the poll tax, as a "listening government".

At the Madrid inter-governmental conference, the tensions were ratcheted higher as Thatcher emphatically renounced any advance in British policy over the European agenda for "ever closer union" of political and economic forces.

His dispute with Thatcher was over matters of substance more than ones of style; he advocated a move back towards a more centrist position on constitutional and administrative issues, such as taxation and European integration.

[8] Howe wrote a cautiously worded letter of resignation in which he criticised the Prime Minister's overall handling of UK relations with the European Community.

[37] Howe offered a cricket simile for British negotiations on EMU in Europe: "It's rather like sending our opening batsmen to the crease only for them to find that before the first ball is bowled, their bats have been broken by the team captain.

Sir Geoffrey was an outstanding member of the Prime Minister's Administration since 1979 and his decision to leave reveals a fatal flaw in the management of our affairs.

"[41] Although Howe subsequently wrote in his memoir Conflict of Loyalty that his intention was only to constrain any shift in European policy by the Cabinet under the existing prime minister, his speech is widely seen as the key catalyst for the leadership challenge mounted by Michael Heseltine a few days later.

In the Lords, Howe continued to speak on a wide range of foreign-policy and European issues and led opposition to the Labour government's plans from 1997 to convert the second chamber into a largely elected body[44][c] – a position reiterated in the face of Coalition proposals in 2012.

[51] From 1996 to 2006 he was president of the Academy of Experts and in November 2014 was made an honorary fellow of the organisation in recognition of his contribution to the development of methods of dispute resolution.

[53] Obituarists noted how Howe was "warm and well liked by colleagues",[54] with Nigel Lawson writing that he would be remembered by those who knew him "as one of the kindest and nicest men in politics"[55] who, according to Andrew Rawnsley of The Observer, was frequently spoken of by fellow politicians "as one of the most honest and decent practitioners of their profession".